bed, wrapped up in one of my favorite blankets.
Autumn.
“You stole this out of my room.” She pats the blanket.
“I did not.”
Wait.
Maybe I did?
“This was one of my favorites.” She pets it, raking her fingers over the cozy soft fabric.
“Then why’d you leave it behind?” I make my way over to the dresser, grabbing undies, then a pair of sleep shorts and a T-shirt.
“Ha! See, you did take it. Oh well, I guess I can’t blame you.”
I slip my panties on under the towel then whip it off, letting it drop to the floor as I tug the tank top over my head. My sister is blatantly watching me, her gaze roving over every inch of my skin in that typical big sister, I am silently judging you, way she has.
I love her, but we can get into it when we want, which is often, especially when she still lived here. Yet you better never come for me, because she will cut you before you get a chance to attack. Autumn is extremely overprotective of us all.
“I think your boobs are getting bigger,” she tells me, as I’m pulling on my shorts.
“In my dreams,” I say, my gaze going to her chest. Hers are huge. Bigger than I’d want. Glad I didn’t inherit that gene.
“I actually think so. You’ve filled out more. You have curves,” Autumn continues.
“I appreciate your positive assessment,” I tell her half-jokingly as I collapse on my bed right next to her.
“Your skin is really clear too,” she says as she turns to face me. “You look good, Ava. Tell me why you’re acting all down and out.”
“Do you really want to know?” I ask. She can only tolerate so much from me. I feel the same way. After a while, we get tired of hearing the sound of each other’s voices. It sounds rotten, but it’s true.
But my tale is long, and she’ll need to be patient with me while I get it all out.
“Yes, I really want to know,” she says firmly.
Sitting up on the bed, I launch into the entire story. I tell her everything. This includes all of the sexual moments I experienced with Eli. If I can’t confess all to my sister, who else can I talk to? I know she won’t judge.
Well, not too harshly.
By the time I’m wrapping it up, she’s sitting up as well, cross-legged with the blanket wrapped around her middle, her mouth hanging open.
“You actually had sex with him,” she says when I’m finished.
I roll my eyes. “I mentioned that about ten minutes ago.”
“I can’t believe you actually had sex. You beat me. I was a senior before I did it with Ash.” Her cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink. How cute, my sister still blushes.
“Well, when you know, you know.” I shrug.
“Do you regret it?”
I think about her question, pressing my lips together as I go over the memory of what Eli and I have shared. “No. Not at all.”
“Perv.” Autumn shoves at my shoulder, making me topple over a little. I do the same, shoving her with all of my might, nearly sending her off the bed. Next thing I know, we’re doing some strange wrestling, pretzel contortionist type thing that has our legs tangled up, laughing almost uncontrollably as we try to hurt each other.
I finally give in first, with Autumn sprawled on top of me, pressing me into the mattress, her hands pinning my shoulders down. She’s little, but she’s strong, I’ll give her that. Eventually, she rolls over so she’s lying beside me, and we’re shoulder to shoulder as we both stare at the ceiling.
“If you love him,” she says quietly, once the laughter dies down, “You can’t just let him go. You need to tell him what really happened.”
“I want to.” I hesitate for a moment, before I exhale loudly. “Jake will kill me.”
“Fuck Jake.” Autumn says it with such conviction, my head whips in her direction, and I can feel my eyes widening. “What? I’m serious. You can’t let him dictate your life, or who you choose to love. You know how many people lost their damn minds when Asher and I got together? A lot of people. Dad wasn’t too thrilled at first either, but he got over it. And if your guy is a good person, Mom and Dad will see that.”
“The problem is I don’t know if Eli is truly a good person,” I admit, my voice small. “When I’m with him, he says all of these…outrageous